We throw off the lie of perfection and cling to our identity in God as we strive to be whole, healthy, and fit. Our goal is wholeness, not perfection.

Yes, I know that the 12th day of Christmas as January 6th. But this year I have committed to finishing what I start. Even if it isn’t the finish product I had in mind when I started. I began writing this entry over a week ago. But I realize now that the entry I started could easily be a blog series, so instead of trying to fit all of those words and emotions into a single blog entry I am choosing to start anew.

As women – regardless of our marital status, career choice, and maternal status – we busy ourselves and fill our days with meeting the needs of other people. Real or imagined. (The needs, not the people. Who’s got time to meet the needs of imaginary people?) We get so busy tending to husbands, bosses, co-workers, children, friends – not to mention the tasks on our to do lists – that we tend to put our needs last. And we don’t realize how overwhelmed we are until our patience is running low and we’re struggling to find kind words or a gentle tone.

So, in 2015 I propose that we start setting aside time to recharge, to refuel. Nothing crazy, maybe once a quarter. Find a one day women’s conference in town. Or a weekend retreat a few hours away. I totally recommend the latter. There’s something heavenly about waking up to quiet, knowing that all your meals will be made by someone else and you don’t have to clean up the dishes. Did you just breathe a sigh of relief when you read that? I did. And then when you return home you are pleasantly surprised at just how ecstatic you are to be welcomed by a messy and loud house.

A search of “one day women’s conferences” on Google returned 254,000,000 results in 0.29 seconds. “Women’s weekend retreat” only had 31,000,000 results in 0.26 seconds, but that’s still plenty of options. Don’t want anything as formal as a conference or a retreat? Then make a standing date with some friends for a mom’s night out or join a small group. Just make sure that whatever is meant to refuel you doesn’t add to the stress that you’re seeking to alleviate.

Do you have a refueling plan for 2015? If so, what is it? If not, is there anything you did to refuel in 2014 that you’d like to do again in 2015?

This is Day 3 of the Do Over 10 Day Challenge. My challenge is to write here for 10 minutes each day for 10 days. But my real challenge within this challenge is to write without over-thinking it. To let the words flow without editing as I type. Yesterday I remembered a God friend of mine telling me about this woman who will post a writing prompt, inviting others to join her in free writing for five minutes. When the five minutes are up you type STOP and do exactly that.

Deep breath…whew. I’ll admit I’m a tad bit nervous about this. What if my words come out all wrong? You know, they sound really good in my head but don’t quite make it to the screen the way I had envisioned.

Oh well. I can just do it over next week, and the week after that, until the fear subsides or I do it in spite of the fear. Either way, here we go…

If you’re new to the Five Minute Friday phenomenon like I am, here’s how it works:

Every Thursday a one-word prompt will be announced on the Five Minute Fridays blog at 10pm EST (and the blogging continues through Friday).

Before the prompt is revealed many in the Five Minute Friday community like to connect on Thursday evenings on Twitter using the #fmfparty hashtag. I missed out on yesterday’s gathering, but look forward to chatting with the ladies next week.

Everyone who participates in Five Minute Friday will write for five minutes on the topic of the week, post it on their own blog and link up that post on the Five Minute Fridays blog using the InLinkz button at the bottom of the prompt post.

If you want to get in on the fun but don’t have a blog, you’re welcome to post your five minutes of writing in the comments here each week, the comments section of the FMF blog, or on the Five Minute Friday Facebook page.

This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking (my inner editor is cringing), no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation.

Just write.

Today’s 5 minute Friday prompt is WELCOME: GO

Whether you come in the front door, the backdoor, or through the garage, you’ll be greeted by the sound of a seven year old playing with his twin baby brothers. You’ll find me trying to tidy up, more for my sanity than to impress you. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to dazzle you with my multitasking abilities, but I’m fresh out.

But I have clean glasses and four different types of milk if you’re thirsty. The kitchen table offers a beautiful view of what we jokingly call the park in our backyard And once you tire of the wooden chairs, you are welcome to get comfortable in the living room. But you may want to reconsider sitting on the couches if you have anything important to do today. They are sirens. No, really, you won’t want to get up. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Although the twins have more toys than any ten month olds should have, you will most certainly be their favorite diversion. Once they have thoroughly inspected you and you’ve passed their “stranger danger” screening, of course.

So this is my home. This is my life. You are welcome to come over any time. No, really, I’d love the grown up company. Because trying to take the Floyd Boys out and about is a little too much work. So if you don’t mind the noise that only a seven year old boy and his twin brothers can create, come on over. STOP.

Funny thing happened yesterday after I posted that I have a difficult time keeping up with my blog because I over think when I write. God told me to start a new blog. And I said, “Cool. I’ll post a new blog entry tomorrow. It’s time for bed.” And He said, “No. A new blog. Not a new post.” I couldn’t help but bust out laughing. “Dude, you’re kidding right? I just told the whole Interweb that I’m struggling to keep up with my blog. Why would I start a new one?” Silence. Not that comfortable silence two friends share as they both recover from laughing hysterically. Awkward silence.

I started to throw a grown up tantrum and provide really good reasons as to why I shouldn’t start up another blog. “Faith Fitness and Mommy Stuff,” was His reply. “Ooh…I like it.” Oh how I feel so silly stupid when I get amazed at how well God knows me. He had me at the name. I started to ask all sorts of questions about Catalyst Movement and how Faith Fitness and Mommy Stuff will impact it. Then I remembered how tired I was and realized I didn’t have the energy to wrestle with God over blogging. Besides, as a dear friend told me years ago “You can choose to oblige and follow or you can go with skinned knees because you tried to do it your way. Either way you’re gonna do it God’s way.”

I’m 4 days into a 10 day challenge Jon Acuff is leading and I only followed through on Day 1. My Do Over goal? Write for 10 minutes each day. But the problem is I over think everything I write. At least on here. Nope, take that back. Everything means everywhere. I tend to edit as I type rather than just letting the words come and then worry about sentence structure and all that jazz. Thank you very much liberal arts education at a writing intense school. Shout out to all my Randy-Mac girls out there who can never “just write” again.

But maybe my first mistake was committing to posting a blog entry every day for 10 days. The challenge is to work on something you’d like to do over (complete or improve from a previous attempt) for 10 minutes every day for 10 days. I can’t haven’t been able to get a post out in 10 minutes yet. Nope. I’m too busy editing as I write and then thinking about which pictures I can insert or what graphic I can make on my phone.

Not this time. Not for the next 10 days. Nope, I’m just going to write for 10 minutes. Whatever God puts on my heart and then I’m going to hit the publish button. Well, I’ll go back and edit for typos and such. To do otherwise would be sheer madness. Or is it shear?

So here I go, starting the Do Over Challenge, for the second time. Why did I start over the first time? That’s another blog. Ooh, I can spend ten minutes on that tomorrow.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by life? Whatever your work/family situation is, do you ever feel like you’re juggling too many activities/responsibilities/roles? And let’s face it, although technology can simplify our lives, it usually reminds us via social media that we can be doing so much more, or at the very least do what we’re already doing with a lot more style.

So today, we give you permission to just breathe. What’s that you say? You don’t have the time to stop and breathe? Or your living space is so cluttered that you can’t find a place to sit down long enough to enjoy breathing? Well, here are some resources that may help you find the time and physical space to do just that.

Corie Clark’s “The Simplicity Project” is aptly named. Her approach to simplifying our over-complicated lives is exactly that – simple. She doesn’t try to push a multi-step program . Nor does she just focus on the physical decluttering that our lives need. She addresses the need to tend to our spiritual health, physical health, physical spaces, finances, and time management. Her approach to simplifying is not only doable, but grace infused, which makes it more likely for recovering perfectionists to complete the project.

While “The Simplicity Project” touches on learning how to say yes and no wisely, Lysa TerKeurst’s “The Best Yes” really gets to the heart of the matter – people pleasing. Too many “Oh, snap!” moments in the book to get into here. If you can relate to any of the quotes from the front of her book {I dread saying yes but feel powerless to say no. I hope there’s more to life than my to-do list. I’m a little overwhelmed and a lot worn out. I’m drowning int he regrets of too many commitments.}, grab a copy.

This last book, “Finding Spiritual Whitespace” by Bonnie Gray, comes highly recommended from a God friend. Since it’s on the “Read in 2015” list, you can read her write-up of it here.

I had a plan. A plan to post for twelve consecutive days to encourage others to start fresh in 2015. God had a different plan. Twin B got sick and keeping up with posting took a back seat to being a mom. As Twin B was on the mend I picked up posting again, albeit a couple of days behind on the “12 Days of Christmas” theme. So I planned to do two days per day for a couple of days to catch up. But again, God had a different plan. Twin A caught whatever his brother had. Good to see they can share sometimes.

So here I am, on the night of the 9th Day of Christmas, posting Day 6.

In the past, I would be berating myself about only being three days into the new year and already deviating from my plans. But not this year. My One Word for 2015 is FINISH. Although the word doesn’t overtly imply grace, it is a grace filled word. Until very recently I allowed the lie of perfection to dictate what I would or would not accomplish. Let’s be honest, it was usually the latter. If I couldn’t do it exactly the way I envisioned it, or how I thought others expected it to be, I didn’t do it at all. Or I would start it, see that it wasn’t going to be perfect, then stop.

FINISH gives me the permission to give myself the grace to do just that, finish what I’ve started. Regardless of the outcome. So, I intend to finish the “12 Days of Christmas” posts, even if it takes me 30 days to do it. I also plan on finishing a ridiculously long list of books that I started but put down.

There are countless voices vying for our attention, saying “eat this, not that” and their advice is constantly changing. Instead of adding to the noise, we’ll keep it sweet and simple: Eat more God food than man food. That is all. You’re welcome.

No, really. Don’t get caught up in all the hype – the rules and regulations regarding nutrition. Eat when you’re hungry. Stop before you get too full. Eat food for fuel, not as a reward or punishment. Enjoy the food you eat. Eat slowly enough so you can taste what you’re eating. Eat more fresh food than processed food. Listen to your body and eat food that brings you health and life, not the stuff that steals it.

What is one change you want to make to your diet in the new year? I want to eat out less and prepare more meals at home.